Accessible Transcript: The Fight for Civil Rights for People with Disabilities Welcome to “The Fight for Civil Rights for People with Disabilities.” The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law 25 years ago. This historic milestone wasn’t the work of one person or even a small group of people. And, it didn’t happen overnight. Thousands of courageous people with disabilities, activists and advocates for disability rights, legislators and the legal community worked tirelessly on many fronts for more than 50 years. This presentation is based on a collection of 31 stories that capture key “Moments in Disability History.” They can be found on the Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities’ website. These stories represent just a fraction of the fascinating historic events that eventually led to the passage of the ADA. Welcome to CLE Training In this webinar, you will learn about some of the key events that led to the passage of the ADA and the contributions of four important social movements. They are the Parent Movement, the Independent Living Movement, the Self-Advocacy Movement and, finally, the Disability Rights Movement. You also will learn about the personal experiences of people with disabilities and how their powerful stories of discrimination, inequality and segregation helped frame the debate for passing the ADA. Finally, you will be introduced to some of the key activists, judicial representatives, Congressional representatives and others who played pivotal roles in passing the ADA. How to Navigate this Course: Part 1 Before we get started, let’s go over how to navigate this webinar. There is a navigation bar at the bottom of the screen. If for any reason you need to pause the training, click the Pause button. To continue to play the training simply click the Play button. The Speaker button allows you to turn the audio on or off. In addition, the sidebar of this webinar provides you four different types of information: • An outline of the topics • Thumbnails of the slides Page 1 of 23 • A script of the narration • and a search function Click on any of these tabs to view this information. How to Navigate this Course: Part 2 Throughout the webinar, an arrow button may appear on the screen which allows you to play additional videos and audio clips contained on external websites. When clicking the arrow button, a new browser window will open. To continue, click the play button to play the video or audio clip. When you’re done, close the browser window and click the Play button within the webinar to continue. People First Language Now, let’s get started. It’s important to understand the power of language. Historically, society has defined people with disabilities in terms of their limitations and deficiencies, often using words and labels that are considered offensive, derogatory and insensitive today. At times, this presentation refers to historical documents that reflect the cultural norms and language of the times. Hopefully, you will find this language uncomfortable and recognize how these labels reinforce negative stereotypes and continue to stigmatize people with disabilities. In the interest of accuracy, these references have not been revised to reflect the more respectful “people first” language preferred today. “People first” language emphasizes the individual, not a disability. As members of the legal community, the words you use can help to create a more inclusive, respectful society. Click the arrow button on the screen to view this clear explanation made by an individual with an intellectual disability at the first national self-advocacy conference in 1974. http://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels/seven/7b/7b_html/7b_5vid.html The Parent Movement: Part 1 The ADA can trace its roots to the late 1940s and early 1950s when parents began to organize and demand services for their children with disabilities. To understand the significance of a national parent movement, it’s important to recognize that, at the time, most people pitied or feared individuals with developmental disabilities. Parents were ashamed and often overtly blamed for their children’s disabilities. The vast majority of people with developmental disabilities lived out of sight in dangerously overcrowded, understaffed public institutions. Medical professionals routinely told parents to place children with developmental disabilities in institutions and Page 2 of 23 to forget about them. Parents who chose to keep their children with disabilities at home were instructed to place the child face down in a stroller when out in public so that no one would see him or her. The Parent Movement: Part 2 In 1950, ninety parents from across the United States traveled to Minneapolis to participate in the first national conference for parents of children with intellectual disabilities. The Arc, the United States’ first national parents’ organization, was created at the conference. 65 years later, the Arc continues to be a leading advocate for the rights of people with disabilities. At the 1950 conference, parents agreed to focus on working to pass legislation that would help children with disabilities receive training, encourage research in the field and educate the public that children with disabilities can be trained to be productive citizens. As one parent said in a local newspaper account, “We hope someday that our sons and daughters will not be tax burdens.” Gov. Youngdahl’s List of Rights Minnesota Governor Luther Youngdahl was the keynote speaker at the conference in 1950. During his remarks he became one of the first public officials to speak openly about the rights of people with disabilities. Click the arrow button on the screen to hear Youngdahl’s comments on the rights of children with disabilities. http://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels/five/5a/4.html Brown v. Board of Education – 1954 There are many parallels between the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s and the disability rights movement that would soon follow. For example, the 1954 Brown versus Board of Education decision concluded racial segregation in schools is “inherently unequal” and is consequently unconstitutional. This decision, that guaranteed the right to an equal education for children of all races, would later become the model for the PARC versus the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania lawsuit that would guarantee the educational rights of children with developmental disabilities in 1971. Public demand for change, along with these and other lawsuits would eventually lead to Congressional action. Page 3 of 23 Ed Roberts – 1960s: Part 1 By the 1960s, the Parent Movement was well-established. Many of the children who were the focus of the Parent Movement were now young adults demanding the opportunity to be independent and the support services that would make that happen. This helped to set the stage for the birth of the Independent Living Movement. Ed Roberts is the nationally recognized leader and founder of the Independent Living movement. After contracting polio at age 14, he was paralyzed from the neck down. Despite roadblocks thrown in his way by the educational system, Ed was able to graduate from high school. After fighting and ultimately winning the right to attend the University of California Berkeley, one headline read: “Helpless Cripple Attends U C Berkeley in Wheelchair.” He entered the University of California Berkeley in 1962, the same year that James Meredith entered the University of Mississippi. Ed Roberts – 1960s: Part 2 It is impossible to measure the profound impact that Ed had on disability rights. His accomplishments include starting the Physically Disabled Students Program at Berkeley and creating the Berkeley Center for Independent Living. He created the first curb cut, making the city of Berkeley accessible to people of all ages and abilities. He received a MacArthur Fellowship. At one point, the California Department of Rehabilitation judged Ed incapable of being employed. He went on to head that same agency for eight years. He traveled the world and he changed it. Click the arrow button on the screen to hear Ed Roberts discuss the importance of inclusion. http://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels/six/6b/6b_html/6b_13vid.html Newspaper Exposés – 1960s: Part 1 Throughout history, the media has played an important role in furthering disability rights. After World War II, several newspapers ran articles exposing the horrific conditions in the nation’s institutions. Page 4 of 23 Funding to institutions had been reduced, leading to dangerous understaffing. In some institutions, 1 staff member supervised 100 residents. Residents were chained to benches and one toilet was shared by hundreds of people. Unfortunately, these conditions steadily deteriorated. By 1960, approximately 200,000 with developmental disabilities lived in public institutions in the United States. Yet, their care was grossly underfunded. In 1964, the per diem rate for a person living in an institution was $5.57, about one-half of the daily amount allotted to tend animals in a zoo. Newspaper Exposés – 1960s: Part 2 Another round of media exposés in the 1960s and 1970s prompted demand for significant changes to the system. These images show the dehumanization that occurred in the nation’s institutions. When experts from Sweden and Norway traveled to America in the 1960s to investigate conditions in U.S. institutions, local headlines declared that Scandinavians treated their cattle better than we treated people with disabilities. Newspaper Exposés – 1960s: Part 3 One newspaper article used three photos to illustrate the sterile conditions in an institution. Whether the resident is a child, a teenager or an adult, their physical surroundings don’t change to reflect the group’s age or interests. All are sterile, cold and uninviting. Newspaper Exposés – 1960s: Part 4 In 1966, Burton Blatt published Christmas in Purgatory, one of the most famous and influential exposés. Using a hidden camera, Blatt and Fred Kaplan captured life inside the public institutions.